Disclaimer: I own nada, blah blah blah, but Sarah, Nolan, Michael, the plot and whomever else I introduce are mine
A/N: Okay people. I have fought this tooth and nail, denied it fervently, but with this chapter, I am forced to admit that Sarah is * drum roll* at the very least… part… Mary-Sue! (Oh the pain) I really didn't want her to be, but when it comes down to it * wipes away a tear* oh well, I'm going to try and make her as realistic as possible, but she seems especially Mary-Sueish at points in this chapter. But have no fear! She'll get better from here on so don't stop reading!
Congrats to Cassandra, who got the telepathy hint in chapter 1!! Cassandra, do you want the character named directly after you or a name of your choice?
Chapter 5: What are you, an angel?
"Hello Remus, Sarah!" came the ever cheerful voice of Albus Dumbledore. "It's a lovely evening – you two should go out for a walk!"
The sight that greeted his eyes, however, made him stop dead in his tracks. Remus was sitting weakly in a high backed armchair, his face pale and drawn. Sarah was standing facing him, her breath faster than it should have been, looking sad, nervous and defeated all at the same time. Her normally immaculate clothing was messy, her hair tangled, and it looked like she'd been crying. Remus's clothes were similarly tussled, and one arm, Dumbledore noted with great alarm, was bloody. On the floor beside him were bloodied bandages as well as the remnants of a potion.
Tearing his eyes away from the bandages, he looked up to Sarah, whose eyes told him all he needed to know. Remus had found out – and only just, by the looks of it. "Remus, Sarah." He said, much more gently this time. "I'll leave you two to talk, then. Remus – are you going to be alright?"
Remus nodded absently. "Yes, professor." He said, so quietly that Dumbledore had to strain to hear him.
"Well then, if you'll excuse me." He nodded to the two of them.
Sarah, he called out his goddaughter, hoping that she was reading him. Sarah, tell him everything, now. Too many people have either betrayed his trust or not trusted him in the past. He needs to know.
Sarah didn't respond, but pulled up a chair beside Remus in an unspoken acknowledgement of her godfather. Dumbledore stepped back and disapparated, praying fervently that they would talk and come to an understanding.
For a few minutes, neither moved. After a while, however, Sarah sat down in the chair she'd pulled up. Remus sighed and turned towards her. The few seconds in which Dumbledore had been with them had allowed him to regroup. He gave Sarah a small smile.
"So, you're a telepath and you can seriously fight. Anything else I should know about, or should I assume that you're some kind of angel/goddess in disguise come to 'guide' me with your 'infinite' wisdom and knowledge?" he said dryly (A/N: I couldn't resist – she seems like such a Mary Sue here!) Sarah's eyes lit up.
"Hey!" she said, then immediately sobered. "Uh, well, I suppose there's one… and a half more things that you should know about me."
Remus arched an eyebrow. Merlin, Sarah, he thought. What else can there be?
"Oh, plenty else." Sarah responded , without thinking. She clapped a hand over her mouth at Remus's startled expression.
"Sorry, Remus!" she said. "I did that without meaning to; when people think like that, as if they're talking to me, it's hard not to hear them. I don't just go around always reading people's minds. In fact, I prefer not to – it takes all the mystery out of life."
Remus, however, didn't hear much of her apology – he was too deep in thought. "Sarah," he said slowly. "When we first met – when you said that you used to annoy Albus at staff meetings…"
Sarah nodded, then groaned. "Oh," she said. "I did it then, didn't I?"
"I imagined you annoying Albus, and then you said, as if you'd heard me plain as day, that you did it to McGonagall…" Remus lapsed back into amazed thought. And there'd been that time when Albus had come for dinner. The house had been in complete silence when Sarah had entered, yet she'd known that her godfather was there before she even came into the room. Suddenly a new train of thought presented itself to him.
"You've been pretty careless around me, haven't you?" he half accused her. Sarah smiled sheepishly. "You hoped that I'd figure it out."
"Well," Sarah fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat. "It's not the easiest thing in the world to tell people. Most usually look at me weird – and then never look me in the eye again, as if I can't read their minds if I can't make eye contact." Sarah snorted, and Remus was mildly alarmed. He had had the feeling, especially when thinking about the Dumbledore incident, that Sarah had no need to be anywhere near whoever's mind she was reading. Her reaction to people's belief in mind reading through eye contact only served to confirm that suspicion.
"My telepathy – its nothing like that, really." She sighed, then continued. "The other half is that I'm also – well, a bit telekinetic as a side effect. I guess I…sense… goodness this sounds so ridiculous out loud… well, I sense energy differently from everyone else."
"One and a half" Remus mused.
"What?" Sarah asked, somewhat taken aback by his lack of reaction to her latest revelation.
"You told me the half, now what about the one more thing?"
Well, Remus thought. might as well hear it all out in one go.
If Sarah had heard, she gave no indication of it. "Oh – well – you've seen me do this one, too." She took a deep breath. This particular trait tended to either seriously disturb people or get them way too overexcited. "You know in the store when I blanked out?" She continued after seeing the affirmative nod he gave her. "When something bad or dangerous is going to happen, I can generally sense it. Yeah I know, it's the weird energy thing again. I can feel that things are going to go wrong at least five minutes before it happens."
Remus frowned. "Sense??" he said. "Or see? Today it looked like you actually saw something."
"The greater the danger, the clearer the 'premonition'." Sarah said, getting up. Now that Remus knew essentially everything, she suddenly remembered that she had to go into work the next morning and deliver a full report.
"Damn!" she said, punching a conveniently placed chair. Remus looked up, rather concerned. The last time she'd said that, they'd had to vault a stair rail and run for their lives.
"What?" he said, getting up as well. "You're not… sensing anything, are you?"
"No, no." Sarah sighed. "I'm going to be in a lot of trouble tomorrow." She added under her breath, but Remus's keen wolf senses caught it.
"What do you mean, trouble?"
Sarah brushed it off. "Hey, look, we should get some sleep. We can talk about this tomorrow, seeing as you already know the important stuff. Night, Remus." She said, touching his arm gently and turning to leave. Remus, however, reached out and grabbed her hand with his good arm.
"Sarah," he growled out. "I thought we were good friends, meaning that we were being honest with each other."
Sarah looked up into his light blue eyes and sighed. you'd think that he was the telepathic one, she mused.
"I'm sorry" she said, attempting to run her hand through her messy hair, but finding her path blocked by numerous tangles. "I guess I'm just blaming myself again."
Remus stared at her for a few seconds, then decided to let it go. He gently squeezed the hand he was holding; Sarah looked upset and tired. She was right – telling someone that you were telepathic was not something that you did everyday. "Night, Sarah." He said gently. On impulse, he bent forward and made to kiss her on the cheek. Sarah, however, turned her head at the last moment, and so instead his lips brushed softly against hers.
Before he knew it, he'd dropped her hand and slid his arm around her waist, pulling her close to him while she deepened the kiss. Suddenly his brain kicked back into gear and his body regretfully obeyed, pulling away from her. Sarah looked up at him, her eyes wide and lips slightly parted.
"Sarah…" he began, but she darted away from him, obviously rather flustered.
"Uh, goodnight, Remus." She said quickly, making to leave the room. Remus raised his hands to his lips – what on earth had possessed him to kiss her? Sure, he hadn't meant to kiss her on the lips, but he certainly hadn't protested when it happened.
Well, said a smug inner voice that seemed to come out of nowhere. there is that itsy bitsy fact that you really, really, really like this girl. You couldn't even stay mad at her for a couple of seconds!
Sarah was almost at the doorway when she heard him and she stopped instantly, her whole body stiffening. She turned around slowly and stared at Remus for a few seconds. Remus was quite confused until he realized that she'd heard him. In no time at all, he felt his face burn as he was transformed into 'Remus the Red' as Sirius had so lovingly christened him all those years ago. A mischievous look came upon Sarah's face as she turned away again and walked out of the room, a small smile playing on her lips.
Good going, Remus! he chastised himself as he made to clear up the mess on the floor. Why don't you just walk around with a sign saying 'I have a crush on Sarah Brenton'?
He stopped dead. "Hang on," he said to himself. "Who said that I had a 'crush' on her! I'm a grown man, for goodness sakes!"
Well now, came the smug voice. I do believe, Remus, that you did.
* * * * * * * * * * *
"Brenton."
Sarah winced. She knew that she was in a lot of trouble when Michael used her last name. The disappointment in his voice was impossible to ignore.
"As usual, Sarah, you got out of a crowded area, made sure that the primary target stayed alive, and did this all without destroying any property. But do you care to explain WHY ON EARTH THERE WAS A CIVILIAN WITH YOU????????"
"He's a wizard." Sarah said very quietly, but Michael heard.
"DO I LOOK LIKE I CARE WHETHER OR NOT THE MAN IS GOD'S GIFT TO EARTH??? NO!!!!"
Michael stormed over to the window, refusing to look at Sarah. He knew that would only make him angrier, and he really wanted to calm down. She was the one person that he could always count on, and she'd never been this careless before. Despite that, everyone had to mess up sometime, he thought.
"Sarah." He groaned. "Why couldn't you have saved the perfection for now and messed up when you first started out?"
Sarah relaxed considerably. Now that Michael had let some steam out, she was sure that he wouldn't be too hard on her.
"I know I messed up sir; in fact, I know that I'm extremely fortunate that Remus is alive and that he didn't use any magic." In hindsight, that wasn't the best thing to say.
"AND THAT'S ANOTHER THING!!! YOU COULD HAVE EXPOSED HIS WORLD TO THE WRONG KIND OF PEOPLE!!!"
Michael's eyes were boring into hers but she stood her ground. She knew that he'd always held her in high respect due to the fact that she, unlike so many others at MI5, was unafraid of her boss. However, his next statement caught her completely off guard.
"You like him."
"What? I mean – sir – how – of course I …" she sputtered, completely at loss for words. Michael smirked at her obvious discomfort.
"Yes, you like him." He said. Sarah remained speechless. "Look, Sarah, I know you've always done your best here. Just don't let the fact that you like this man get in the way of your work, okay?"
Sarah nodded, unable to think of anything to say. She certainly liked his kiss – and she was so crushed when she thought he was upset with her - did that mean she liked him?
"Other than that, Nolan has given us some good information." Michael continued. "Keep working hard, Miss Brenton."
Sarah turned and left the room, breathing a huge sigh of relief as the door closed behind her. "Finally – I can go home." She thought, making her way out of the offices and back to Remus.
* * * * * * * * * * *
"G'morning, Sarah." Remus greeted her. He'd been asleep when she left and decided to make breakfast for when she got back.
"Hi yourself." She grinned at him. "How's the arm?"
'I will not think about liking Remus, I will not think about liking Remus' she told herself.
"Almost completely healed. Do you want some toast?" he asked her.
'I will not think about kissing Sarah. I will not think about kissing Sarah.' He sternly admonished himself.
"Sure!" she said, sounding a little too enthusiastic. "Who's the letter from?" she said, pointing her hand at a piece of parchment lying on the kitchen table.
"Oh, your darling 'grandpa'" he joked with her. "Actually, there seems to be a bit of a situation at Hogwarts, and Dumbledore feels that Harry would be safer with us for a while."
"Aww – Harry's not going to like that." Sarah said. As excited as she was to finally meet Harry – Remus talked non-stop about him if she got him onto that topic – she'd learnt enough to gather that Harry wasn't happy being shuttled from place to place, usually without any choice in the matter whatsoever. And now even more so as he'd have to stay inside all the time…
"Wait a minute." Sarah said. Remus stopped the plate that he was levitating towards her in mid air and she rolled her eyes at him. "If he's coming here to keep him safe – doesn't that defeat the purpose if whoever is out to get him knows that he's not a Hogwarts?"
"Polyjuice." Remus said, settling the plate in front of Sarah, who smiled gratefully at him.
"Sorry, I don't speak wizard." Sarah reminded Remus, and he gave a small chuckle.
"Someone will take the Polyjuice potion and pretend to be Harry for a while." Remus said, by way of an explanation.
"Rmmpft" Sarah said, her mouth full. Remus grinned at her as she rather embarrassedly swallowed her toast. "Excuse me" she said, face flushed.
"So," she asked, making sure she'd finished chewing this time. "When is he coming?"
"Two days time, Albus says."
'Two days in which to get rid of any silly 'feelings' I have' Remus thought. 'And then Harry will be here.'
Sarah finished her toast and got up, making her way towards the sink.
"No, no, let me do it – you made me breakfast." She said at Remus's protest.
"Well then," Remus said, going towards the door. "I'll be upstairs getting Harry's room ready."
Sarah laughed as he left the kitchen. He had two whole days to 'get Harry's room ready' and it was already ready from the summer. It was good to see him excited, she thought. He looked so good when he was happy.
'He looked so good????' she questioned herself. 'Where did that come from?'
She shook her head and continued washing dishes. 'I must not like Remus.' She chanted. 'I must not like Remus.'
A/N: I personally love this chapter – it's my favourite so far! What do you think?? Also, I asked last time but no one had any ideas. Harry will be making an appearance in the next chapter – will he have a relationship going of his own? And with who??? Review and let me know, people! I love it when you all review (and yes, Anti-Sheep Cheese Muffin, Remus IS A GOD!!!! I agree entirely!!!!! If there were one thing I could own in Harry Potter it'd be him…) So review! The more you review, the more inspired I am (how cheesy does that sound) to put up another chapter!
Does anyone know how to get italics???? If so, let me know!!!! Please?? (it makes writing their thoughts so much easier for me and easier for you to read! OH!! This is a repost – I just figured out italics!! YES!!!!